ANDREW McCARTHY: “PRAGMATIC MODERATE” WINS IRAN AND THE WEST IS PREDICTABLY SWOONING
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/351222/pragmatic-moderate-wins-iran-west-predictably-swooning-andrew-c-mccarthy
The Obama administration and European leaders, so predictably, are swooning over Iran’s newly elected “pragmatic moderate” president Hassan Rouhani, who is actually a Khomeini disciple and supporter of the current, despicable Khameini regime — and who (a) wouold not have been permitted to run without the regime’s blessing, (b) enthusiastically supports Iran’s nuclear program, (c) called for the execution of “green revolution” activists in 2009, and (d) ardently backs the Assad regime in Syria because it, like Rouhani himself, is an implacable enemy of Israel.
At Ricochet, Judith Levy has a smart post bursting the balloon.
A good rule of thumb: when you hear progressives talk about “moderates” and “pragmatists,” bear in mind that these are comparative terms. If your baseline is al Qaeda, then, yes, the Muslim Brotherhood is “moderate” and “pragmatic” — it has the same ideology and the same objectives but is more sophisticated in pursuing its goals and, though quite willing to use terror opportunistically, is more inclined to use methods other than terrorism (lawfare, demagoguery, political campaigns, infiltration of media and academe, etc.) to achieve its goals. But if we are to speak objectively and without comparison to even more extreme actors, these “pragmatistic moderates” are anything but moderate, and their insidious “pragmatism” — i.e., their pose as conventonal political operatives rather than fire-breathing jihadists — makes them more dangerous.
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